Confidence grade
A confidence grade is the High, Medium or Low rating FeeVerify gives every fee rule it builds from your contracts. It records how firmly named sources support the rule. It also decides what happens next: a rule graded Low goes to a cards and payments specialist before anyone treats it, or a finding built on it, as final.
How a confidence grade is set
Each rule in a FeeVerify rulebook carries the contract excerpt it came from, and the grade records how directly that excerpt and the other named sources support the rule. A clause that states the fee, its rate and its basis plainly supports a High grade. Interpretation, gaps or conflicting sources lower the grade.
In practice a rule is graded High when one clause states the fee and its basis and no later document changes it. It is graded Medium when the rule depends on interpretation or on several documents read together, such as a tier table that does not say which volume the lower rate applies to. It is graded Low when sources conflict, a scanned page is partly illegible, or no clause supports a charge that appears on the invoice. Grading exists because the sources are hard to read: submissions to the Reserve Bank of Australia describe scheme fee schedules "often 400 pages long", with "conditional fees and tiering" (RBA summary of submissions, 2025).
Where the grade matters on a bill
The grade matters when a finding becomes a claim against a processor. A variance built on a High rule rests on plain contract wording. One built on a Medium or Low rule rests on a reading of the contract, and the processor may read it differently, so the claim needs a person's judgement first.
Without grades, every variance looks equally certain on a report, and the first weak claim a processor rebuts puts the rest in doubt. With them, your team can act on well-supported findings straight away and treat the others as questions for the counterparty. The grade stays attached to the finding in the variance map and in every report that uses it, so a reader can see how firmly each figure is supported.
How to check a grade
Every grade can be checked by opening the rule and reading the source beside it. The rule shows the clause in the contract's original language, an English translation, the documents it was read with and the grade. If you read the clause differently, a specialist reviews the rule before findings built on it go further.
Three controls sit around the grade. Rules graded Low go to a cards and payments specialist before they are used as final. Material findings wait in needs review until a named reviewer signs them off, whatever their grade. The worklog records who graded, reviewed and approved each item, and when, so an auditor can follow the chain from the finding back to the clause. More detail is on the governance page.
Worked example
These rules come from an investigation for Meridian Payments, a fictional tenant with synthetic figures. Two findings rest on clauses that state the fee plainly and are graded High. The tier rate depends on how a volume table is read, so it is graded Medium and waits for a specialist before it reaches the report.
| Rule | Clause | Variance | Grade | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheme fee pass-through | Sched. C §3.1 | +0.04 pts | High | Named reviewer sign-off |
| Chargeback fee | Sched. C §7.1 | +£10.00 per case | High | Named reviewer sign-off |
| Volume tier rate | Sched. A §2.3 | +0.25 points | Medium | Specialist reads the tier table, then sign-off |
If the specialist confirms the reading of the tier table, the Medium finding goes forward with that reading recorded beside it. If not, it becomes a question for the processor. Illustrative: a fictional tenant and synthetic figures.
Related terms
Sources: RBA summary of submissions on the transparency of wholesale fees, 2025.
Start with one month of your own data.
A pilot begins with the agreements that protect both sides, then your contracts and one month of settlement data, scoped with a payments specialist on the first call. The 30-day diagnostic re-costs every transaction against them and shows each variance with its clause, before any recurring fee.